Long Field Trips - 3 days or longer

see also:
One-Day Field Trips

La Selva Biological Station

Located on the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica at 35 m of elevation, Finca La Selva represents one of the most important places for the production of information on the biology of tropical rain forests. The Station maintains state of the art lab and teaching space, an excellent library and comfortable living quarters. Trees and epiphytes, butterflies, birds, and bats (up to 60 species) are also quite diverse.

Guanacaste National Park (Santa Rosa and Volcan Cacao Biological Stations)

Although the Tropical Dry Forest is the most endangered tropical ecosystem, efforts of Daniel Janzen and the National Parks System of Costa Rica, are having great success in the restoration of the dry forest. Guanacaste National Park is becoming one of the most important examples of habitat restoration in the tropics. For this regeneration process to continue, different landscape units must remain connected. In addition to get aquainted with restoration processes in the dry forest of Santa Rosa, students hike to the top of Cacao Volcano using the corridor that connects the lowlands with the highlands. Mountain peaks such as Cacao, function as isolated islands, rich in epiphytes and in different microenvironmental conditions. A pristine and still unexplored elfin forest occurs near the summit of Cacao Volcano.

San Ramon Forest Reserve

With its 3,500 mm of annual precipitation and a range of 800-1,500 m in elevation Alberto Brenes Forest Reserve maintains a pristine premontane cloud forest. Its high species diversity is reflected in the recent discovery of a new plant family: Ticodendraceae. An ideal place to work on epiphytes, forest structure, pollination biology and aquatic insects, San Ramon offers optimal conditions for research and education. The comfortable Station can accommodate 40 people, has lab and teaching space, a drying room for plant specimens and computer facilities.

Cerro de La Muerte Biological Station

A small but comfortable field station located on the limit between the Oak Forest and Paramo vegetation at an elevation of 3,100 m. Nights are chilly, and the extreme variation in daily temperature (range = 12oC) impose major constraints on the biology of highland organisms. An excellent site for pollination studies including hummingbirds and bumblebees, or to get acquainted with the biogeographical relationships of some rare andean plants that reach their northernmost limit in Costa Rica.

Tortuguero National Park

Located in the province of Limon, facing the Caribbean Sea, Tortuguero National Park is one of the most important nesting sites for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Being one of the wettest places in Costa Rica (mean annual precipitation ranges between 5-6,000 mm) the Park comprises a variety of different habitats, from tall Tropical Rain Forest and Swamp Forests to Yolillales (flooded stands dominated by Raphia taedigera palms). A network of waterways of extreme scenic beauty provide habitat for the manatee (Trichechus manatus) and the crocodile (Crocodylus acutus).

Corcovado National Park (Marenco Biological Station)

The Marenco area receives up to 4,000 mm of rain per year but precipitation can be higher at the top of the mountains on the Osa Peninsula (up to 5,500 mm). Around 500 species of trees have been recorded throughout the Park, some of them endemic to the area. In addition, 140 mammal, 367 bird and 117 amphibian species have been identified in the Park. Here, students will do their independent field research.

see also:
One-Day Field Trips
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